Monday, July 21, 2008

Back On The Grid

Back On The Grid, Still Playing Catchup

I've been on line in some form or another since 1990 (!) and I remember The Old Days of that modem sound and watching each email appear line by line or, sometimes, character by character. What a great day when I upgraded from a 2400 modem to a 14.4.

After a weekend out of town with extra-slow dial-up and intermittent cell phone service, those memories are fresh in my mind. So I'm still catching up with the news.

McCain gets a special Quote of Confidence award for this remark at a New Mexico fund raiser: "Could I mention the presence of my friend, Congressman Steve Pearce, who I believe will be joining me in the United States Senate?" Uh, Johnny Mac... aren't you hoping for another job? You may have well have said "... for at least the next two years until my state's popular and term-limited Democratic governor beats me for re-election."

In any case Pearce is running maybe 15 or so points behind one of the Udalls. I get my Udalls mixed up.

The GOP is also worried about Georgia, Novak said, because of Bob Barr. The item is just below the note that Chuck Grassley is NOT a national convention delegate.

Charlie Cook moves four more Senate races in a more Democratic direction: "The debate is about how many seats the Republicans will lose; they no longer have a realistic chance of holding their own."

But CQ says one race is moving in the GOP's direction: Minnesota. "Franken Stumbling" is the headline. Jesse the Body didn't get in, but short-time appointee senator Dean Barkley did, after saying he wouldn't. Maybe -- I hate to say it -- Franken might be this year's case of a candidate the base loves who can't make the crossover.

Damn plane crash.

Here's a guide on How To Make Fun Of Obama. Leno and company don't really have a shorthand take on him yet like Dan Quayle = dumb or Bill Clinton = horny. For McCain, they're recycling all the Bob Dole = old jokes.

People keep dropping the name of Sam Nunn as VP, but old guys like me remember how he scuttled gays in the military in the dawning days of Clinton 42. And if you go waaay back, he was the Zell Miller wing of the party's candidate in 1972 when he knocked off a more liberal progressive incumbent who had been appointed by Governor Jimmy Carter. This MyDDiary tracks the greatest hits.

I liked U2 self-righteous better than I liked them ironic, and now I get a bonus from the past: re-issues of Boy, October and War padded with non-album tracks that I paid waaaaay too much for as import singles back in 1984 or so.